Potato power

We know that food gives us energy. It provides us with vital elements to sustain our life. But what of a simple potato could charge your laptop as well?

Researcher Rabinowitch has been working on the "potato power" theory for the past few years.
According to his research a single potato could power a room with and LED lighting for 40 days!

The idea behind the research is fairly simple. As the basic concept of battery works, in order to produce energy from an organic object, one needs two metals positively and negatively charged, like zinc and copper. The acid inside the object forms a chemical reaction which is then transmitted into an electric reaction between the metals.

The energy produced by potatoes is a very low voltage but it is enough to charge a laptop or a phone.The cost of this kind of energy is estimated at 9$ per kilowatt per hour, which, compared to a simple AA cell (49-84$) is fairly cheap.

However, there are certain limitation to the use of potato power. UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. states that using food for energy must avoid depleting food stocks and competing with farmers. In some countries, like Sri-Lanka potatoes are rare and expensive. But local scientist came up with the solution of using the stems.

Moreover, the image of a potato as a source of energy may not be suitable for consumers.
We would still want to eat our potatoes rather then charge laptops with it. The image of using a cheap source of energy like potato may not find its way to the market.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131112-potato-power-to-light-the-world